The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Woofstock: An event for the dogs
Rescue Village holds annual fundraiser
The Cleveland Metroparks Polo Field, 41324 S. Woodlawn Road, went to the dogs Sept. 10, when the Geauga County Humane Society Rescue Village held the annual Woofstock event.
Rescue Village volunteer Pamela Kerr describes the event as an annual community event where people are invited to bring their dogs to enjoy the day with them.
“There are vendors and rescues and it’s just an opportunity for people to come and experience — I guess — being with everyone and being a pet owner and how wonderful it is,” she said.
This is the first year the festival has been held in this location. The move, according to a flyer from Rescue Village, means the event would allow more people, more dogs and more attractions.
The event, billed as the biggest dog and family friendly festival in Northeast Ohio, functions as a fundraiser to help Rescue Village assist needy animals. The goal is to raise $100,000
according to the website promoting the event, www.geaugahumane.org/woofstock.
Music made it’s return to the festival this year with live performances from local musicians such as Bill March, Amanda and Rick, All is Harvest, North Coast Goats and Matt Harmon.
The fee to enter the event was $25.00, which included a tie-dyed T-shirt with the 2017 Woofstock logo on it.
Kerr, who believes this is the 12th year for the Woofstock, estimated approximately 900-1000 people showed up within a half hour of the event opening.
“We are over the moon,” she said. “People have really turned out, it’s incredible.”
The festival started with a blessing of the animals before kicking off a best look contest and parade in which the dogs were dressed in costumes such as a Cleveland Browns’ fan, a ram on Noah’s ark and scuba dogs.
Prizes for the best look consisted of gift cards donated by event sponsor Pet People.
Some of the activities for the day included an adoption marathon, contests, raffles, food trucks, senior dog olympics and a Browns game watch PAW-ty.
Dog owners were also able to seek wisdom for their dogs from Dog fucius and visit the smooch booth for kisses from a therapy dog.
Shaker Heights Animal Hospital, who also sponsored the event, was on hand for on-site veterinary care.
JD, Kirtland Police Department’s K-9, was available with his handler for a meet and greet session.
Dog owners were also available to have a piece of art created from their dogs paw print by Art Area with Pinot’s Palette, who donated $5.00 from each art piece sold to Rescue Village.
Ruth Glatz of Leroy brought her dog Lucky, a labrador, English pug and pitbull mix dressed in Cleveland Browns attire just so she be out walking with the dogs, because she loves dogs.
Don Hricko, whose Maltese Pomeranian, Sandy, tied for first place in the team event for the best look contest with a Noah’s ark costume, attended the event last year and decided it was a lot of fun and wanted to do it again.
Michael and Marlene Samek brought their three greyhounds; Dewey, Hailey and Judy all the way from Canfield to attend.
They had never attended it before and heard about it from a friend.
Michael thought the event was pretty cool and Marlene said it was fabulous. The Semeks tied with Hricko for first place as a team in the best look contest with their dogs dressed in scuba gear.
According to a statement on www.geaugahumane.org, Rescue Village receives no government funding and relies solely on support and donations from the community to provide care for animals in need.
“By fund-raising for Woofstock 2017, you will dramatically impact the lives of thousands of animals in our care and help us prevent the suffering of thousands more through our prevention efforts.”